I said on a different thread that realistically, we need to achieve safety in 34 games, not 38, as a result of those last four fixtures. Holy Moses, all four of them (as things stand) could well be title contenders by then - and I suggest, still will be
Surely that's true of every season though? It doesn't matter when the matches against the biggest teams take place, you just accept that you're not going to get many points against them and any you do is a massive bonus. It really doesn't matter that they all have fallen into two clusters at the beginning and end of this season. If anything, I could feasibly see us, with a healthy dose of luck (no more than we deserve), going on a long unbeaten streak from mid-December right through til March. I think it's highly unlikely, but given we only have four really tough matches, Man Utd, Man City, Tottenham and Everton, of which the first three are all at home, I think it is plausible. If we change manager in early December, I can really see the new guy having an absolute ball because of that run of fixtures. I count eighteen matches in that period - even if it's not a winning streak, interspersed with losses against the four above but also a couple of good results out of those, we could have a really good couple of six match streaks. Also, people are quick to forget the Man City attitude of the last day of last season. The big boys tend to not have much to play for at the end of the season, meaning they rest more players. I agree we have a tough run in, but I just don't think it's really a debating point because it's not as if Fulham or Stoke don't have to play those same teams at some point.
It's one of those things that the last 2 matches last season, which everyone was dreading, turned out to be wins. It really is a 'funny game'.
